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^So for FFV I came to a similar conclusion back when I first played it (e: but because I played VI first, not IV), but last year led me to the opposite conclusion. The job system is just a really neat gameplay element. I mean, I still didn't finish, but that's because I'm trash, not because I didn't like it. :P

Pretty much any metroidvania game ever. (That's the term, right? For when you have to constantly backtrack to old environments with new equipment to get farther in that direction before backtracking to other environments to get farther in those directions?)

I really can't get into that style of game. It has nothing to do with it being bad. It's not. I just can't play them without feeling like I'm constantly getting lost trying to find that place I was JUST AT and feeling like I'm always re-doing platforming I've already done to get back to places now with upgraded equipment. It is frustrating to me even though I can conceptually understand what makes the formula work and appealing to others. I actually like more linear games because I don't feel like I have to "re-play" parts to get to new stuff, I guess?

There is a 99% chance this reaction is because I grew up playing linear games so metroidvania style games feel backtracky to me by comparison. Dunno. Anyway, I unfortunately don't enjoy them :c

Possibly not quite what this topic is about, but I can't get into combo-based fighting games or mania-style (e.g. Guitar Hero) rhythm games because of my inability to follow streams of directional instructions. I used to have major coordination/fine motor issues and needed a few years of OT to get to "normal." You'd never know the difference now except that I still have a ridiculous way of holding a pencil (they tried, but there's no unlearning that) and can't consistently translate "left"/"right" or even "east"/"west" into the right directional motion subconsciously.

That's not an issue for most games, since I can think about the inputs in terms of something else or at least rely on the direction I need to press being the one towards an enemy, but it breaks down almost immediately once, say, Street Fighter tells me that my Spiral Kick of Death is mapped to a DDR sequence. I usually can't even get close to finishing the character tutorials with the combos on screen, let alone memorize them for use against human players. Mania games, meanwhile, become very difficult at four keys and basically impossible at five or more because I'm only going to pick the right finger for the middle columns ~80% of the time.

No idea how common that specific issue is, but it makes those two genres nigh-on unplayable.

Did you enjoy any other Metroid title? How about the metroidvania Castlevania games?

Short answer, yes.

Metroid Prime was really great but it's sequel didn't catch me the same way. My VI thought Metroid II was okay but it kinda needs a guide. Hunters was fun but I only did multiplayer, didn't get far in the story mode. Fusion and Zero we're cool but I lost interest like with Super.

Castlevania SotN was cool until they flipped the castle, that was lazy and boring so I quit. The GBA games were better but I only beat Circle of the Moon. I played some PS2 one(s?) but they were mediocre.

I basically feel the same way as AtJ does about the genre, and probably for very similar reasons. There were some exceptions but overall the genre isn't for me, I like a smooth, continuous pace without repetition.

Everyone has a sweet spot on the sliding scale of linearity vs. openness. Individual games may sway it depending on their execution, but you tend to stay within the same interval. The games I most enjoy are somewhere between 3 and 5 on the scale. Incidentally, I just noticed that TV Tropes lists Tales of Symphonia at 4, so what do I know.

Radiant Historia probably should've been on the list given that I'd made three previous attempts to get into it without ever making it further than two hours, but the remake allowing me to skip all of the terrible combat finally solved the problem. More JRPGs should do that - very few of them benefit from mob battles.

Unfortunately, Bayonetta 2 immediately took its place. Maybe the people that said I didn't need the first game to play it were wrong or maybe it takes longer than 20 minutes to "get" it, but that's all I could take. Glad that was a rental.